Cannon `the Serf Unicorn`. Lugansk, Lugansk People`s Republic. Editorial Image

Lugansk, Lugansk People`s Republic. The cannon is a fortress unicorn, cast at the Lugansk Foundry - the first-born of Ukrainian metallurgy. Date of manufacture is cast on the gun itself - 1814 year. The unicorn cannon was invented in 1757 by Russian engineers SO Martynov and MV Danilov. In the same year, it was adopted by the Russian army as field and mountain cannons. The `unicorn` was delivered to the armament by Count PI Shuvalov. The name of the weapon is due to the family coat of arms of Shuvalov - the image of a fantastic unicorn beast. Such guns were cast at the Lugansk cannon factory of cast iron, had trunks of 7.5-12.5 caliber, fired cores with a mass of 1.8-40 kilograms, a diameter of 246 millimeters, and a range of up to four kilometers. These cannons were manufactured by the plant for the Russian army during the Patriotic War of 1812-1814. In 1812 alone, 413 cannons were fired, and none of them exploded during the fighting. Since 1978, the cannon was installed on the carriage near the building of the museum of local lore in Lugansk. Photo September 12, 2012